S. Samuel
Rap veteran Kool G Rap has listed his Top 5 favorite rappers straight out of Queens, New York, including iconic hip-hop crew Run-DMC and entertainment mogul 50 Cent.
Kool’s initial Top 3 consists of Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Nas.
“Run-DMC, right off the top, because they had made so many classic hits that even if you throw them on to this day, it will take you back and you will lose your f*cking mind, ” Kool G told DJ Vlad. “And just for that alone, I miss Jam Master Jay so much because you know you will never see Run-DMC on-stage again like the way they started out. LL Cool J. LL because he’s one of the first rappers to bring a complex flow to the game. Maybe not so much with his commercial records, but records like ‘I’m Dangerous’ and songs like that, he really displayed his lyrical and flow capabilities. I mean, he really showed out. For that time. Nas. Nas because he’s everything you would want to hear out of a rapper. He’s lyrical, he’s witty, he’s got wordplay, he has the ability to tell a story.” (Vlad TV)
His final two picks were Mobb Deep (consisting of Prodigy and Havoc), and 50.
“Mobb Deep because Mobb Deep, they came out at a time where I felt that real gritty, gritty hardcore street rap was needed,” Kool G added. “Because there was the rise of the West Coast at the time and it was like, no one was holding the crown down on our side. So Mobb Deep, I give a lot of credit to for like being one of the representatives of East Coast rap and New York and you know, things of that nature. Holding it down. [Lastly], I would have to say 50 [Cent]. I would have to say 50. I mean, 50, he just, at the time he came out, the impact he had on the world, it was like that hardcore street sh*t — 50 just brought it back. He just put f*cking NY on his back and was like, ‘I’ma hold it down, don’t even worry about it.’ [He] brought that gritty sh*t back to the game. And on top of that, he had a h*ll of a story. If somebody was to write a 50 Cent movie before 50 Cent’s life actually unfolded like that, you’d be like, ‘Yeah, this is definitely fiction. This would never happen to nobody.’ Somebody that get shot nine times, survive that and then blow up and become one of the biggest artists in the f*cking game and kind of corner the market almost d*mn near, the whole world like ‘GG-GGG?’ [laughs]” (Vlad TV)
Currently working on his upcoming Riches, Royalty & Respect solo LP, Kool G recently updated fans on the album’s progress.
“[I’ve got verses from] just Havoc so far,” G Rap said in an interview talking about his upcoming new album. “I’m waiting on Beanie [Sigel] to send something back, who’s phenomenal lyrically. And I’m also trying to reach out to Vinnie Paz [for ‘Scarface Snow’]… Vinnie Paz got a crazy underground following. And I’m what you would consider to be a artist that ruled the underground. Because I never hit that Jay-Z status, I never hit that Notorious B.I.G. status [or] was mainstream like that. So I’m an artist that ruled the underground but recognizable to mainstream artists. And this is why I probably get the [title] ‘your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.'” (Hip Hop DX)
Last November, Kool G talked to SOHH about what fans can anticipate from his forthcoming release.
“This [album] is G Rap in 2010 and basically this album is about G Rap being a little more expressive than I normally do on any of my projects,” G told SOHH. “So this is G Rap and pieces of G Rap and not every song is related to real life incidents, I was creative too, but this is the first album where you can find a trace of that. I got [producer] Supa Dave for a few tracks. Supa Dave did a good four or five tracks on the album. We did the collab thing on a good portion of the album.” (SOHH)
Check out Kool G Rap’s interview below:
